News - Network rail
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Themes HS2 COVID-19 Cairngorm Mountain Railway New station Kerr's Miniature Railway Kintore Stirling Electrification Network Rail Borders Railway Kincardine Alloa Progress Rail Services Hydrogen power Bridge strike Dunfermline Jacobite Car on line Gretna ScotRail Transport Scotland Derailment Balfour Beatty Quintinshill
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Twenty years ago, on 17 October 2000, a train derailed just south of Hatfield station while travelling at around 115mph. Four people died, 70 were injured. The accident was caused by rolling-contact fatigue (metal fatigue) of the left-hand rail, which broke as the train passed over it.
Railtrack (the private infrastructure operator) and Balfour Beatty (the contractor responsible for track maintenance on that line) were found guilty of breaching health and safety laws. Railtrack was forced by the government into administration, and publicly owned Network Rail was established. (Permalink) Balfour Beatty Hatfield crash Network Rail Railtrack |
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Almost 1,500 lifts and 300 escalators across some 500 stations around the country will soon be directly 'live' reporting their working condition. Passengers will be able to see which lifts and escalators are working, helping them plan their journeys through stations with real-time knowledge of the access available.
(Permalink) Network Rail Open data |
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Five current and two former Network Rail employees have been recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, published on Saturday 10 October.
(Permalink) Network Rail Queen's Birthday Honours |
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Network Rail is set to launch the second round of consultation for Cambridge South station this month.
(Permalink) Cambridge South Network Rail |
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Rail Wellbeing Live on 4th/5th November set to be industry's biggest ever free wellbeing event
Aims to'revolutionise' thinking around health and wellbeing in rail industry More than 140 speakers and 80 pick 'n' mix sessions across 2 day virtual event. (Permalink) Network Rail Virtual Event Wellbeing |
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Network Rail has provided a huge boost to the Great British September Clean - by once again pledging to get all 41,000 employees involved. It says litter and graffiti can cause safety problems for passengers.
(Permalink) Network Rail |
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The East Coast Main Line Power Supply Upgrade is to power forward into its second phase to enhance the East Coast network, bolstered by a £216.2m contract award for the Rail Electrification Alliance.
(Permalink) East Coast Main Line Electrification Network Rail |
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The National Composites Centre (NCC) has partnered with Network Rail to investigate, design and build a composite footbridge.
The new partnership sees Network Rail join the NCC as a Tier One Member - the first rail infrastructure company to do so - which gives Network Rail access to use the world-leading expertise facilities and capabilities at the NCC. The concept footbridge, conceived and ... (Permalink) Footbridge National Composites Centre Network Rail |
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Caithness is playing a key role in a £195k project which hopes to show that moving timber by rail is a viable and greener alternative to using roads.
(Permalink) Dalcross Far North Line Georgemas Junction Hitrans Inverness Network Rail Norbord Scottish Forestry Timber Transport Scotland Victa Railfreight |
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Hundreds of lorry loads of timber could be removed from the A9 in Ross-shire after almost £200,000 was allocated to a rail freight trial by Victa Railfreight.
(Permalink) Dalcross Far North Line Georgemas Junction Hitrans Inverness Network Rail Norbord Scottish Forestry Timber Transport Scotland Victa Railfreight |
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Network Rail, Scottish Government and City of Edinburgh Council have today revealed their concept designs for transforming the capitals main station as part of the Edinburgh Waverley Masterplan.
(Permalink) City of Edinburgh Council Edinburgh Waverley Network Rail Scottish Government  Edinburgh Waverley: Master-plan for Edinburgh Waverley, Market Street side entrance (the Klondyke or Old Town side to the south of the station). North Bridge in background.  Edinburgh Waverley: Network Rail's master-plan for Edinburgh Waverley showing the entrance from Waverley Bridge.  Edinburgh Waverley: The Edinburgh Waverley master-plan showing the mezzanine level and without the glass roof. This aerial view is from the south. |
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Network Rail Scotland is restarting work on major construction projects across Scotland's Railway following a three-month pause due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
(Permalink) Covid-19 Glasgow Queen Street Network Rail |
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Network Rail has announced that tree cutting work on the line between Glasgow and East Kilbride / Barrhead, paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will now resume.
(Permalink) Barrhead Covid-19 East Kilbride Electrification Network Rail  East Kilbride: Clearing the trees and vegetation along the 11-mile railway corridor is now underway and will be ongoing until December. It will enable site and geological investigation (SI/GI) which will inform the development of proposals to enhance the railway. |
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Household waste is helping to keep the lights on for 50,000 homes during the coronavirus crisis as Network Rail continues to move an essential freight service which carries waste from London to an energy plant in the South West.
(Permalink) Covid-19 Network Rail |
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Network Rail and construction firm Bam Nuttal secured the site on Saturday as work was suspended.
(Permalink) COVID-19 Kintore Network Rail New station  Kintore: ScotRail 158707, on the 14:20 departure from Inverurie to Inverness, passes through the new platforms at Kintore on 22nd August 2019.
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Network Rail has identified a site in Sandwell to build a new factory that will produce concrete sleepers for the network in the future.
The railway sidings at Bescot have been selected for the potential project, and will create 100 jobs in the West Midlands whilst ensuring that Bescot is a key location on the nations railway map. If approved, the facility hopes to produce up to 600,000 sleepers a year making up 60% of the countrys supply, with Network Rails separate sleeper facility in Doncaster making up the remaining 40%. The Bescot site will be directly connected to the network to ensure that sleepers can be transported quickly and easily around Britain. (Permalink) Network Rail |
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Flying Scotsman has marked the reopening of the landslip-hit Settle-to-Carlisle rail line.
The stretch at Eden Brows, between Carlisle and Armathwaite, had to be shut in February last year after 500,000 tones of earth moved. Network Rail underpinned the line by driving hundreds of concrete-filled steel piles into the bedrock. Paul Barnfield, regional director for train operator Northern, said the £23m project had been a 'mammoth task'. (Permalink) Eden Brows Landslide Network Rail  Eden Brows: A Class 142 (number 142066) on an Appleby to Carlisle ecs move (suspected to be for route refreshing) passes the site of the landslip at Eden Brows on 25 March 2017. This is the second day that these runs have taken place. The DMU is crossing the section where the slip occurred and where Network Rail has spent the past year rebuilding the trackbed and there is now a substantial retaining wall and piles beneath to support the line. The line is scheduled to reopen to passenger traffic on 31 March 2017 with Flying Scotsman hauling the reopening special.  Eden Brows: The Settle and Carlisle Railway was closed in early 2016 due to a landslip at Eden Brows between Armathwaite and Cumwhinton. Network Rail and their contractor Story have constructing an enormous concrete and steel structure that will sit beneath the railway. They are also carrying out significant ground stabilisation between the railway and the River Eden some 70 metres below the line. This view from an overbridge to the south of the site shows the track removed in the distance beyond the yellow container. The line is scheduled to reopen on 31 March 2017.  Rise Hill Tunnel: Flying Scotsman northbound near Rise Hill Tunnel on the Settle & Carlisle line on 30 September 1978 with The Lord Bishop. The special was bound for Appleby, where a memorial service was held for Bishop Eric Treacy. |
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Steam trains formed of Mk 2 carriages will replace DMUs on timetabled trains over the Settle & Carlisle (S&C) route next month.
A1 Pacific 60163 Tornado, completed in 2008, will haul the Northern trains over the S&C between Skipton and Appleby on three consecutive days. The first timetabled ordinary main line passenger steam trains to run in England for 50 years are the result of a pioneering modern and heritage industry alliance, formed to help revive the economic fortunes of the beleaguered S&C as well as the towns and villages that it serves. The railway, opened in 1875, was severed by a major landslip last February and has been in limbo ever since. This alliance comprises Northern, Network Rail, DB Cargo, the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust and Friends of the S&C, together with RAIL and Steam Railway from the Bauer Media magazine portfolio, who came up with the proposal two years ago. The historic community trains are being promoted under the banner I LOVE S&C. (Permalink) Eden Brows Landslide Network Rail  Arten Gill Viaduct: Class 9F 2-10-0 92220 Evening Star takes a northbound railtour over Arten Gill Viaduct circa 1984.  Blea Moor Tunnel: 45305 with 'The Waverley' York - Carlisle charter at the northern portal of Blea Moor tunnel on 9 September 2012.  Armathwaite: The Jubilee Railway Society South Yorkshireman No 5 railtour of 30 April 1966 on the return leg from Carlisle to Bradford via the Settle and Carlisle line. The train is approaching Armathwaite Tunnel behind 70035 Rudyard Kipling. The Britannia was deputising for Jubilee 45593, Kolhapur which had failed at Carlisle. See image [[21052]]
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Route-based management teams which include representatives from Network Rail and the train operator will run Britain’s railway in the future under reforms announced by the Transport Secretary today.
The changes, which appear less radical than many earlier reports had suggested, will see future franchises adopting alliance structures similar to those used in the South West and Scotland in recent years. Speaking to the BBC, Chris Grayling said Network Rail was too centralised and needed to become a collection of route-based businesses with a local management team that knows the line. [From Richard Buckby] (Permalink) Network Rail |
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The new station at Cambridge North is due to open on schedule after major construction work over Christmas.
Network Rail engineers built platforms, installed tracks for a new bay platform and fitted overhead wires over the festive season. The footbridge, lift shafts, stairwells and main station building were built last year, meaning the development is now 80% complete and due to open in May. When completed, the station will have three platforms, parking for 450 vehicles and 1,000 cycles, and solar panels to provide up to 10% of its power. [From Richard Buckby] (Permalink) Network Rail |
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Rail passengers will face disruption over the Christmas period, with 200 sets of engineering works affecting up to 10% of the railways.
Network Rail, which maintains the UK's railways, said doing planned works over the festive season would have the least effect on the travelling public. London, Manchester and Cardiff are among the cities hit, and the Heathrow Express will be suspended for six days. (Permalink) Network Rail |
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The Settle to Carlisle line will finally reopen by 31 March after being closed for over a year following a 500,000 tonne landslip, Network Rail has promised.
Northern rail services on the line have been replaced by buses since a section of the gorge bank above the River Eden gave way in poor weather on 31 January this year. The infrastructure owners chosen engineering scheme, of building a concrete and steel tunnel-like structure under the tracks at a cost of £23m, is now underway. Rhiannon Price, project manager for Network Rail, said: The viaduct-like structure were building will safeguard this section of railway for generations to come. If the land gives way again, the railway will not. This is a complex repair job many months in the planning. We are now focused on getting this iconic and much-loved line fully reopened right the way to Carlisle as soon as possible, which is on schedule 31 March 2017. (Permalink) Eden Brows Landslide Network Rail  Culgaith: Stanier pacific no. 46233 Duchess of Sutherland with the southbound Cumbrian Mountain Express on 6 September 2014 passing Culgaith, with the residents of the former station enjoying the spectacle from the adjacent fence.  Moorcock Viaduct: Having just passed through Garsdale station on 9 July 1961, The Borders Rail Tour runs onto Moorcock Viaduct. On the front of the train is 46247 City of Liverpool, which took the special as far as Petterill Bridge Junction, Carlisle, before handing over to a pair of B1s for the next leg to Hawick. See image [[33252]]  Ais Gill Summit: BR Standard class 9F 2-10-0 no 92009 heads south on the Settle and Carlisle line at Ais Gill in the 1960s with a mixed freight.
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Trains have started running on a second line between London and Oxford city centre following a £320m project.
Chiltern Railways said its new service to London Marylebone would offer 'genuine competition'. Great Western Railway already runs a service between Oxford and London Paddington. The new service started running from the new station Oxford Parkway, when it opened a year ago, but was extended to the city centre from Monday. Network Rail contributed £190m towards the project, with Chiltern Railways investing £130m. More than 850,000 journeys are expected to be taken to or from Oxford on the new services in the next year. (Permalink) Network Rail  Oxford Parkway: This Chiltern Railways train arrived at Oxford Parkway at 19.53 from Marylebone, carrying an impressive load of commuters; and returned as the 20.08 see image [[55244]].  Oxford: First Great Western DMU no 165137 waiting to depart from Oxford on 17 May with a service to Bicester Town.  Marylebone: Road approach to the Great Central Railway's London terminus at Marylebone, seen here looking west in July 2005. |
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Network Rail Property and CPMS today won the Railway Heritage Trust Conservation Award for the conversion of Corrour signal box to holiday accommodation.
Platform 1864 Restaurant at Tain Station was a runner-up in the same category. The other Scottish runner-up was Keith Town for the Taylor Woodrow Partnership Award, where the winner was Dover Marine. (Permalink) Network Rail  Tain: The interior of the Platform 1864 restaurant at Tain station (not Frant!).
 Keith Town: The early afternoon service to Dufftown awaits its departure time at Keith Town on 20 May 2012.  Corrour: Class 37 hauled sleeper train heading south at Corrour at night. Lit by studio flashes. |
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The government has unveiled plans for a fully privatised railway line, with track and trains operated by the same company.
A new line linking Oxford and Cambridge will not be developed by Network Rail, the owner of Britain’s rail infrastructure. Instead, a new entity will be responsible for track and infrastructure, as well as operating train services, under proposals drawn up by the transport secretary, Chris Grayling. (Permalink) Network Rail  Bicester Town: 168 312 standing under the new footbridge and lifts waiting to head for
London. See image [[25588]] for a similar view 7 years previously.  Ridgmont: Services for Bletchley (left) and Bedford (right) cross at this lonely stop on the remnant of the Oxford - Cambridge 'Varsity line' in February 2012. see image [[37613]]  Stewartby: Brick City. Stewartby (originally Wootton Pillinge), Bedfordshire, on the Oxford - Bedford line in 1974. Built to house workers of the London Brick Co, with kilns and chimneys surrounding the station and dominating the landscape. At its peak, this enormous site boasted 167 chimneys and produced 16 million bricks per day. (Editor's note: The last bricks were made here on 29 February 2008 following a rundown by owners Hanson, due to failure to meet new limits for sulphur dioxide emissions. The 4 remaining chimneys on the site are now listed structures. For a view of the survivors see image [[74027]]) |
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The way that England's railway network is run is set to be overhauled under plans outlined by Transport Secretary Chris Grayling.
He wants each rail franchise to be run by joint management teams, including representatives from both the train operating company and Network Rail. Mr Grayling said: 'I intend to start bringing back together the operation of track and train on our railways.' The changes will start when each franchise is renewed in the future. The minister stressed that he wanted his proposed changes to lead to a big improvement in service for passengers, who are travelling on an increasingly crowded and expensive network. (Permalink) Network Rail |
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Network Rail and its main contractor, J Murphy & Sons, are close to completing the £133 million electrification of the Gospel Oak to Barking line.
Work on the London Overground line is 80 per cent complete and on schedule to reopen in February 2017 following a lengthy closure. From 2018, the two-car Class 172 diesel units currently in use will be replaced by four-car Bombardier Aventra EMUs. Over 100 kilometres of overhead catenary and more than 600 structures are being installed along the line. [From Richard Buckby] (Permalink) Network Rail |
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Network Rail will be stripped of its control over Britain’s train tracks and power will be handed to operators in the biggest shake-up of the railways for decades, the Government is to announce.
In an attempt to end delays and to lower fares for consumers, Chris Grayling, the Transport Secretary, will say he wants the state-owned Network Rail to share responsibility for running the tracks with private train operators. It means that rail companies such as Virgin and Southern would become responsible for repairs and maintenance for the first time, ending Network Rail's monopoly. The Government hopes the change will incentivise train companies to complete repairs more quickly and possibly herald cheaper fares. (Permalink) Network Rail |
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Calls for the Scottish Parliament to be given full responsibility over Network Rail have been backed by a think tank.
Reform Scotland said its research suggested more than half of delays to trains in Scotland were due to Network Rail faults rather than ScotRail. It said devolving the organisation would allow a 'clear line of accountability' when things go wrong. Network Rail is funded by Transport Scotland but is ultimately accountable to Westminster, not Holyrood. A spokesman for Network Rail said: 'We work closely with the Scottish and UK governments to continually enhance and improve our railways. Any discussions over further devolution of Network Rail in Scotland would be a matter for those governments'. The full devolution of Network Rail - which is responsible for maintaining rail infrastructure - has been a long-standing ambition of the Scottish government. (Permalink) Network Rail ScotRail |
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A derailed engineering train has caused huge disruption to rail travellers in the North West.
The train's wheels came off the tracks at Ordsall Lane junction in Eccles, Salford, just after 01:00 GMT. Trains to and from Manchester Airport were cancelled while services to Scotland via Preston were also hit. The line was re-opened at 08:00 GMT but Network Rail said that 'widespread' problems would continue until 13:00 GMT. Replacement buses had to be used as the problems affected Arriva Trains Wales, Northern and Transpennine services. [From Mark Bartlett] (Permalink) Derailment Network Rail |
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An investigation into why trains were allowed over a badly damaged bridge has found that a safety system for at-risk structures was no longer in use.
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch looked at why the Lamington Viaduct in South Lanarkshire was used when it was close to collapse after storms in 2015. It found a safety system for over 100 bridges in Scotland had lapsed after organisational changes at Network Rail. The rail body has been told to improve its safety and management procedures. (Permalink) Network Rail  Lamington Viaduct: Detail of the Network Rail poster at Glasgow Central showing the damage and repairs to Lamington Viaduct.  Lamington Viaduct: The 0725 First TransPennine Manchester Airport - Edinburgh Waverley passes slowly over Lamington Viaduct on the morning of 22 February 2016. The viaduct has reopened after extensive repair work following major structural damage caused by storm Frank at the beginning of January. The Network Rail staff are standing on the specially constructed secondary bridge which enabled plant and equipment to be moved to areas requiring attention. See image [[53760]]  Lamington Viaduct: Aerial view of Lamington Viaduct looking east over the works to repair damage caused during Storm Frank. Network Rail have announced that works will continue throughout February. Network Rail news item. |
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Work to prepare the Severn Tunnel for electrification has been successfully completed after it closed for six weeks.
The tunnel has been closed since 12 September to allow for more than eight miles of conductor rail to be installed, with 7,000 anchors to support them. Network Rail engineers lowered the track in the nearby Patchway Tunnels and underneath the Little Stoke Farm bridge to preserve the historical architecture of the 130-year old structure. [From Richard Buckby] (Permalink) Network Rail |
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Platforms could be reopened at Aberdeen railway station as part of a deal to renovate the city centre.
The Evening Express can today reveal a 175-year lease – which would see Atholl House and the Tiffany Hair & Beauty site on Bridge Street offered to the city council by Network Rail – could lead to platforms eight and nine being reopened. [From Charlie Niven] (Permalink) Network Rail  Aberdeen: Looking back from the end of platform 6 (north) at Aberdeen during 'rationalisation' work in February 1973. View is across the truncated platform 7, with through platforms 8 and 9 beyond. Aberdeen North signal box is behind the camera. The building in the centre of the picture is the former suburban booking office and entrance to the covered cross-station walkway.  Aberdeen: A view from the footbridge showing the middle road between (former) Platforms 8 and 9 looking north. Note the digital display screen on a post to the right of the track. This is an indicator which shows the speed of rail vehicles as they pass through the carriage washer which is situated some distance to the south of the station.  Aberdeen: 26043 stands at platform 6 at the north end of Aberdeen station on 30 September 1981 with the 1530 to Inverness boarding. Note the 2-storey former north end booking office centre right, with the bricked up entrances to the old platform 9 stairway and cross-station walkway still clearly visible. See image [[12660 taken from a similar viewpoint during the north end demoliton work in 1973]] |
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Electrification of the Edinburgh-Glasgow line will be subject to delays after Network Rail withdrew an application for planning permission to build a temporary road.
Network Rail applied to West Lothian Council for planning permission to build a 360m diversion to the A71 near Parkhead Primary School in West Calder while a bridge over the railway was closed. The bridge must be rebuilt to create enough height for the electrification of the railway line beneath. A report by West Lothian Council planning inspectors acknowledged that the electrification project will have “tangible local and national benefits” and that denying planning permission will affect other works within the programme. However, they recommended denying permission because the “significant adverse environmental affects” of the project would be disruptive to the school. [From Richard Buckby] (Permalink) Network Rail |
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A level crossing allowing passenger trains to run between a heritage line and the mainline network for the first time in 40 years has been opened.
The £500,000 crossing, near Norden Station, completes the upgrade of the Swanage Railway to link to the main line to Wareham, Dorset. It was officially opened by High Sheriff of Dorset Sir Philip Williams. Swanage Railway Trust chairman Gavin Johns said it had been a 'hugely complex infrastructure project'. The work marks the completion of the 18-month restoration and upgrade of the three miles of former Network Rail line, to within a quarter of a mile of Worgret Junction and the main line to Wareham. (Permalink) Network Rail  Swanage: An open day at the Swanage Railway sees N Class 2-6-0 31806 and King Arthur 4-6-0 777 Sir Lamiel departing from the branch terminus with the 15.15 service.  Norden: Bulleid West Country Pacific 34072 257 Squadron at Norden on the Swanage Railway in July 1999.  Corfe Castle: Standard class 4 no 80078 with a train on the Swanage Railway, near Corfe Castle, on 29 June 2000.
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The public is being urged to help solve a mystery involving plans for a second rail bridge over the Firth of Forth.
Two drawings, dating back to 1945, were discovered in an old box file hidden under a desk in Glasgow. But they only came to light recently. The second rail bridge would have been built downstream of the existing bridge and very close by. Historians are investigating theories about why the designs were drawn up but are keen to know why they were dropped. Network Rail has commissioned an artist's impression of what the fourth Forth Bridge would have looked like and where it would have been situated. (Permalink) Network Rail  Forth Bridge: View of the Forth Bridge from South Queensferry in 1963, the year before the road bridge was opened. Two of the ferries which would be made redundant following the opening of the road bridge stand at Hawes Pier.
 Forth Bridge: View west showing work in progress on the north pier in the summer of 2007. The deck behind the tarpaulin is 150ft from the river.  Forth Bridge: View from South Queensferry towards the Forth Bridge in June 2009 past the Hamish Gilchrist memorial to those killed during its construction. |
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UK: Network Rail announced on September 21 that tracklaying had been completed to enable Chiltern Railways services to run to Oxford. Chiltern had begun operating between London Marylebone and a parkway station on the northern outskirts of the city last year; its trains are due to serve Oxford station, closer to the centre, from December 12. [From Richard Buckby]
(Permalink) Network Rail  Haddenham and Thame Parkway: The late running 18.13 to Marylebone arrives at a soaking wet Haddenham and Thame Parkway on 6 November. I had arrived via the new curve at Bicester see image [[47183]].  Marylebone: East side of Marylebone station from the concourse on 12 January 2013.  Oxford: Busy period at Oxford on 22 September 2011. On the left is an Arriva Cross Country service heading for Manchester and on the right the driver of a First Great Western HST looks back along his train which will shortly depart for Paddington. In the middle is DBS 66001 waiting to follow in the path of the HST towards Didcot. |
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Network Rail has been fined £4m over the death of a former film actress at a level crossing.
Brenda McFarland, known as Olive, was killed in August 2011 when she was hit by a train at the Gipsy Lane crossing in Needham Market, Suffolk. The 82-year-old appeared alongside Sean Connery in The Frightened City in 1961, and in The Sweeney and BBC dramas. The rail firm was sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court having admitted breaches in health and safety regulations. (Permalink) Network Rail |
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Overhead catenary installed on the main line between Edinburgh and Glasgow won’t have to be taken down and replaced, says Network Rail, as some press reports have claimed.
A report by Glasgow Live stated that parts of the newly fitted OLE would have to be “ripped up and started again” as they had been strung too low. Similar stories were run by the Sunday Post and the Edinburgh Evening News. Responding to the coverage, Network Rail said the wires had been installed at the correct height and that it was only at some stations and bridges where it was having to review clearances. The issue which has arisen because of a change in the European OLE TSI standards introduced in 2014 – two years after work began on the project. [From Richard Buckby] (Permalink) Network Rail |
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The reconstruction of London Bridge took a large stride forwards over the bank holiday weekend with the opening of large parts of the station’s new concourse.
Two thirds of the concourse, which once complete will be the same size as the pitch at Wembley, is now open to passengers. The London Bridge rebuild has been ongoing since 2012 as part of Network Rail’s Thameslink programme. Due to be completed in January 2018, the new-look London Bridge – designed by Arcadis WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff JV and architect Grimshaw – will have nine through platforms and six terminating platforms. [From Richard Buckby] (Permalink) Network Rail |
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The sudden collapse of a bridge has caused major disruption to trains between the East Midlands and London.
Trains between London and Nottingham, Derby and Leicester have been cancelled or delayed and replacement buses have been put in place. The collapse, at Barrow Upon Soar, near Loughborough, happened in the early hours. Network Rail has been working to clear the route but does not expect it to re-open quickly. (Permalink) Network Rail |
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JACOBS engineering group announced on July 27 it was awarded a contract by Network Rail to provide a second rail link from the Great Western main line to London Heathrow airport, Britain.
The work is part of the project to improve connection to the Britain’s busiest airport and create a global gateway for western England. [From Richard Buckby] (Permalink) Network Rail |
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Platforms at Waterloo Station are being rebuilt and a new level concourse laid to accommodate longer trains to Reading.
The work involves bringing five former Eurostar platforms back into service. It is the first stage in reworking Waterloo - next summer four more platforms at the other side of the station will be rebuilt to increase the station's overall capacity by 30%, according to Network Rail. (Permalink) Network Rail  Waterloo: Photograph taken from a suburban train leaving Waterloo in the summer of 2005, showing a Eurostar awaiting its departure time at the International Terminal on the west side of the station.  Waterloo International: Eurostars at Waterloo International in September 1995. The International platforms are numbered 20-24.  Waterloo International: The western concourse at Waterloo and entrance to the International platforms on 13 November 2007 - the station's final day as a Eurostar terminus. |
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Part of the Carlisle-to-Settle rail line damaged by a 500,000 tonne landslip in February is to stay closed until at least March 2017.
Network Rail has begun a £23m project to repair the line at Armathwaite which was damaged following heavy rain. The scheme will see hundreds of concrete-filled steel piles driven into the surrounding bedrock in the hope of preventing further landslides. Network Rail has apologised for 'continued disruption' to passengers. (Permalink) Eden Brows Landslide Network Rail |
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Rail services between Blackpool and Preston could be halted for up to 18 weeks to allow the completion of upgrade works.
The shutdown, revealed in a report prepared for Wyre Council, would take place in the winter of 2017/18 and would see all services between Blackpool, Poulton, Kirkham and Preston replaced by buses. Network Rail has promised to electrify the route by May 2018 and is also replacing outdated signalling and other infrastructure along the line. The work is expected to include a significant rebuild at Blackpool North – including the lengthening and straightening of platforms – a remodelling of the railway at Kirkham and Wesham and the resignalling of the stretch between Poulton and Blackpool which is still operated using semaphore signals and bells. [From Mark Bartlett] (Permalink) Network Rail  Blackpool North: The first visit of a Class 221 Voyager to Blackpool North. Voyager 221105 stands at platform 1 (left) on 25 November 2014 with a proving run from Preston in advance of the daily service to London, due to commence on 15 December 2014. With Blackpool Tower illuminated in the background, Northern Class 142, 150 and 156 units await their next turns.  Blackpool North: A view of the large circulating area at Blackpool North  Blackpool North: Elevated view of Blackpool North from the new municipal buildings that now overlook the station. A 150 Sprinter is in Platform 2, while a 158 waits in Platform 6 on a York service. The taxi rank and land beyond were once occupied by the main station platforms which extended back beyond the area now covered by the road. |
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